


A precious Gift

by Anonymous



Category: Naruto
Genre: Ableism, Ableist Language, Dubious Consent, Id Fic, M/M, Missions Gone Wrong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-02 05:54:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18805069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: I might continue this.





	1. Chapter 1

“Do I really have to go there?” Kakashi flicked the official invitation towards Shizune. The slim scroll had a nice roll to it, he thought. It was almost disappointing how easily his assistant caught it before it went off the edge.

“I think so. We could ask if they would accept an envoy in your stead, but the monks might take offense,” she said. That small crease had manifested between her eyebrows again. It was never a good sign, but at least this time Kakashi knew better than to tell her not to frown. _Because, you know, for a woman your age—_

She hadn’t even let him finish the sentence.

“Hmmm, I’ve only been Hokage for a month. You think it’s a good idea to just up and leave on a trip this early in my career?” So far, people had come to him, which was what Kakashi preferred – not that he particularly enjoyed the tedious meetings with foreign officials all that much, but at least they hadn’t required him to travel any further than from one drab room in the Hokage residence to another. 

“It is part of the job. Plus, it would only be for three days _and_ Tsunade-sama is still in the village. I think I’ll stay as well, so you wouldn’t have to worry about anything here. All you’d have to do is pick a team to accompany you and _go_.” The way she stressed that last word was almost hurtful, Kakashi decided.

He made a face. “Why do I feel like you’d be looking forward to not having me around?”

As usual, Shizune ignored his complaint. She tossed the scroll back at him and rolled her eyes when Kakashi made a show of fumbling the catch. “It’s three days, Hokage-sama. If you don’t want to go, fine. We’ll ask if an official envoy can renew the Pact of Lasting Peace between the temple and Konoha for you, but you still have to pick a team.” With enviable speed she found the right folder among towering stack of files in his to-do tray and pulled it out. “Here’s all the relevant information.”

Dutifully, he read the file when Shizune handed it to him. He raised his eyebrows at the description of the temple’s inhabitants, pacifist monks who had chosen a life devoted to worship and study of healing chakra. There was a long list of the healing services they provided to pilgrims visiting their temple.

“Sounds like something you might be interested in. Or maybe Sakura?”

Shizune wrinkled her nose in a rare display of undiplomatic disgust. “They believe in using tools like _magical stones_ and _ancient_ _artifacts._ ” She said the words like someone else might have said _dead rats_ and _dog shit._ “And prayer, a lot of prayer.”

“Okay, so you’re not volunteering. Anything else I need to know about these people?”

“Not really. Renewing the pact is ritual and formality at this point. The monks are loyal to the Fire Nation in the sense that they pay 300 koku of rice to the daimyo every year and in exchange for that everyone leaves them alone. There’s never been any incident.”

Kakashi’s hand stilled mid-page-flip. He reread what he’d merely skimmed before. Then he looked up at Shizune. “Their current head priest used to be a ninja of the Hidden Mist?”

“Yes, Satonishiki Gaseki. He bought his freedom from the Mizukage. Rumor has it, he pays an annual fee of two thousand ryo and they let him walk away without declaring him a missing nin.”

“I didn’t know that was an option.” Kakashi turned the page and there he was, Satonishiki Gaseki, the former shinobi turned monk, turned head priest. His picture covered a third of the piece of paper. It showed a middle-aged man, head shaved bald, narrow, dark eyes in a strangely open, wounded looking face.  He didn’t look like much of a healer to Kakashi. “We trust this guy?”

Shizune shrugged. “In the twenty years he’s been up there, he’s never given us any reason not to. But whoever is going to meet him will be accompanied by a full Anbu squad.”

***

“Do you want to go on a trip to Mugon-ji?” Kakashi asked Gai that evening when he was sitting on his friend’s well-worn couch, a half-empty cup of tea in his hands. He’d mulled the question over all day and then come to the conclusion that it was easiest to just pose it to Gai himself. After all, who better to tell him whether Gai was physically up to the task than Gai?

“Mugon-ji?” Gai cocked his head, thinking. “That old temple up north?”

“Yeah, it should take about a day to get there, then you’ll spend the night and another day at the temple and head back early the next morning. If all goes well, you’ll be back in Konoha by nightfall.” Sipping his green tea through his mask, Kakashi studied his friend. As expected, Gai was giving the plan serious thought. He leaned back in his wheelchair and scratched his chin.

Then, using his Important Announcement voice, Gai declared, “First of all, I’m honored that the Hokage would consider me for an important mission!”

“Let’s be honest, it’s basically a field trip,” Kakashi interjected.

“ _However,_ ” Gai continued, ignoring Kakashi and switching back to his Less Important Announcement voice, “I haven’t really been outside the village since my release from the hospital, Rival.”

“I know, but you requested to be put back on active duty and you _have_ been completing missions for the last couple of weeks.” Gai was nowhere near back to old form – and whether or not he ever would be was something Kakashi didn’t like to think about – but he had been working steadily since his hospital release. Working hard, too.

“D- and C-ranks,” Gai said, his gaze unfaltering. There was no pride there, no puffed out chest, no sparkly grin when for once Kakashi thought there should be. Just grim matter-of-fact-ness.

Kakashi did not say, _Five months ago, Tsunade-sama couldn’t tell me if you’d ever wake up again. Four months ago, she said your chances of needing full care for the rest of your life were fifty-fifty._

Instead he said, “So? This is barely a B-rank. And it’s only a B because you’ll be my envoy. You’ll sign the Pact, do their weird little ritual and that’s it. This is all symbolic anyway. They’re pacifist monks; the peace agreement has been in place for more than five decades and there’s never been any aggression on either side.”

Gai mulled this over. “How’s the terrain?” he asked finally.

Under his mask, Kakashi’s lips quirked into a smile. He knew he’d won. “There are roads leading up there, maybe a couple stone steps when you get into the mountains. I’ve seen you handle worse. Plus, you’ll be travelling with a four-member Anbu squad.”

There was a moment of silence as Gai processed this information, then he brightened, something like the old glint appearing in his eyes.

“Hokage-sama, I’ll accept your mission!”

***

Honestly, Kakashi didn’t think much about Mugon-ji for the next week. He knew he’d made the right choice. Gai had needed something like this, a mission that got him out of the village for a few days, away from his grueling training routine and the repetitive grind of the low-level work he’d been doing to prove his worth. To himself, Kakashi guessed, though the thought saddened him.

Ever since Gai had been released from the hospital, he’d been throwing himself into his training. In moments when he thought no one could see or hear him, he sometimes cursed and howled in frustration, unable to accept the new limits of his body.

Maybe this was a way to show him that there were new things he could do now, that his mind and his experience were just as powerful as his taijutsu had been.

For what it was worth, Kakashi expected nothing but good news upon Gai’s return from the temple.

***

The sun had just set on the third day of Gai’s absence from the village – an absence made tangible to Kakashi by the lack of noise complaints from Gai’s neighbors – when Kakashi heard the telltale commotion that could only mean one thing. His friend had returned.

He smiled, got up and opened the door to his office before Gai’s hand reached the doorknob.

“Rival!” Gai shouted for all the world to hear, his face breaking into a wide grin.

Kakashi pretended to be surprised. “Oh, you’re back.” Two Anbu were rounding the corner behind Gai, clearly out of breath but trying not to show it. No sign of the rest of the squad yet. “How’d it go?” He stepped aside and let Gai roll past him into the office.

Once Kakashi’d settled back into his chair and the four Anbu had shuffled into the room, Gai puffed out his chest and produced a thick, gold-edged scroll from the pouch on his hip.

“I, Maito Gai, return to my Hokage in triumph!”

Kakashi accepted what was offered to him with so much pomp and formality. The scroll was heavy and exuded the faint smell of ozone. He opened it carefully, unrolling the parchment to the edge of his desk. The writing inside was surprisingly cramped, a black scrawl covering almost the entirety of the available surface.

“This is the pact? You’ve signed it?” Kakashi skimmed the first few lines. As flowery and overwrought as expected.

“Our copy of it, yes.” Gai craned his neck to read the writing. “I was told it also contains a precious gift to you. Something of indescribable value.”

“They might have been referring to the pact itself, though.” Wani, one of the Anbu, spoke up. “Anyway, there were no incidents, Hokage-sama.”

Kakashi nodded. “Good. I expect your full report by noon. You’re dismissed.” He rolled up the scroll and, once his Anbu had disappeared, focused on his friend. “Gai, good work. How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling great, Kakashi! This mission really got my blood flowing!” Gai pumped his fist in the air, full of enthusiasm. Seeing the gesture and the healthy glow on Gai’s skin, Kakashi felt a fond smile form on his lips.

“So… See any interesting magical healing stones or ancient artifacts?”

That got him a blank look. “Huh?”

“Well, whatever.” Shaking his head, Kakashi decided to let it go for now. “Ichiraku’s tomorrow night? You can tell me more about the temple.”

Gai beamed. “Are you offering to buy me dinner, Rival?”

As if. “Hm, did you just say something?” Kakashi cocked is head and schooled his features into a look of utter confusion.

“Kakashi…” It was a grumble that contained multitudes and brought a smile to Kakashi’s face.

Annoying Gai never failed to brighten his day and warm his heart.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.

***

Ever since Kakashi had taken up the mantle, mornings came too quickly. He’d stayed late at the office the previous night, fighting his way through the stack of paperwork on his desk, then dragged himself home for a couple of hours of sleep and now, what felt like mere seconds after he’d closed his eyes and drifted off, there was his alarm clock, announcing the start of another day with its incessant blaring.

Kakashi blinked, once, twice. Each blink lasting longer than the one before. Blindly, he reached for the snooze button. Five more minutes. The village could wait five more minutes.

The moment his fingertips connected with the hard plastic button, there was a shift in the room, a whoosh of displaced air and a pulse of chakra. Instantly, Kakashi was sitting upright in bed, ready to confront—

Wani. His stylized crocodile mask standing out in the semidarkness of the unlit room like naked bone, the Anbu rushed to the side of Kakashi’s bed. “Forgive me, Rokudaime-sama, but you’re needed at the hospital, it’s Gai-san!”

Kakashi smashed his hand down on the alarm clock and leapt out of bed.

***

Shizune met him by the hospital entrance. She led him down the long hallway to the ICU, talking as she walked, her voice as quick as her feet. “His body temperature keeps rising. We’ve run tests for poison. We’ve checked for infection, injuries, internal or external. So far, we’ve found nothing.” She glanced over at Kakashi. “I was thinking—”

He’d been thinking the same thing, pretty much from the moment Wani had appeared in his bedroom. “The monks. I’ve already sent a team.”

 _Get me Satonishiki. Alive._ That was the message he’d given to the young Anbu, to be delivered to Yamato, along with the instruction that the captain was to take Sai, pick two more members and leave asap.

“Tell me what happened. How’d he get here?”

“He collapsed in the street, about half an hour ago. He must have been training. You know senpai. A chūnin returning from watch duty found him and brought him here.” Shizune stopped to hold the door open for him.

It was difficult to imagine Gai lying on the ground in the dark, helpless; it set Kakashi’s teeth on edge. He’d sent Gai on this mission. If the monks had done something to his friend, it would ultimately be his fault. He’d been stupid, too trusting; he’d even thought—

No, there was no point to this now. He had to focus on what was important.

“Here.” Shizune had guided him to a big window, through which he could see into the treatment room. Tsunade-sama stood in there, her back to him, her voice audible but too muffled to make out more than the urgency of her words. A handful of assistants were frantically moving around her, all of them in surgical masks and scrubs. For a few seconds, Kakashi’s eyes fixed on the pair of bare legs of the person lying on the gurney between them. They were all he could see of him, two legs, the right one withered and charred, toes completely gone from what remained of the foot. Instinctively, Kakashi moved towards the door, his hand reaching out.

Shizune stepped in front of him and shook her head. “You can’t go in there. I’m sorry…” She pulled a face, “but you’d just be in the way. Tsunade-sama will come out and talk to you in a couple of minutes. Please wait here.”

So, he waited while she slipped in, and he watched through the glass as Shizune joined the fray. For a brief moment the group of healers shifted enough for him to catch a glimpse of Gai’s face, eyes closed, skin flushed, then someone turned abruptly and pulled the curtain shut. Kakashi stared at his own reflection until he couldn’t bear it anymore.

***

When Tsunade-sama came out to talk to him – half an hour later – Kakashi was sitting on a bench by the wall, his eyes fixed on the door. He made to get up, but she gestured for him to remain where he was. The tense line of her jaw told him things were dire before she even said anything. 

“How long until the team comes back from Mugon-ji?” she asked.

He’d mulled this question over since the moment he’d sent Wani off to Tenzō, constantly doing and redoing the math in his head, counting the hours, minutes, seconds, trying to account for everything that might go wrong.

“They’re flying. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.” Best case scenario if they were not met with any resistance from the monks or anything else.

He hadn’t thought it possible, but upon hearing his reply, Tsunade-sama’s face darkened further. “He’s running out of time.”

“It’s that bad?” A helpless and ultimately useless question.

Tsunade glanced back at the door. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. But then, I wasn’t there when he opened the eighth gate.” That comparison made Kakashi stiffen. Nothing he’d ever seen before or after had come close to what Gai unleashed in his fight against Uchiha Madara. To speak of something in those terms…

“It’s not poison or a disease,” she continued. “It’s chakra running rampant in his body, burning him up from the inside.”

Kakashi’s mind was working in overdrive to process the information. Yes, there were jutsu that could drain chakra or block chakra flow, and there certainly were techniques like opening the eighth gate that allowed a person to release incredible amounts of their own chakra, but to turn someone else’s chakra against them…

Gai hadn’t done this to himself. There was no way he would have decided to try opening the eighth gate one random morning in the middle of the village, so…

“How?” he asked.

“If I knew that, I might be able to help him.”

“I should contact Lee and Tenten.” He couldn’t remain sitting on this bench, feeling helpless and useless. Sending messages to those two would at least give him something to do. Knowing Lee and Tenten, they would want to know. They’d rush back to be there for their teacher.

Tsunade, however, shook her head. “Don’t disrupt their missions yet. They won’t be able to do anything. At this rate, they wouldn’t even get here in time to say goodbye.”

Her last words seemed to take the air out of the room. Kakashi bit back the instinctive reply that had crept on his tongue, _Don’t say that_. For a second, he closed his eyes, feeling nauseous. There was nothing left for him to do or say, except maybe to ask, _Can I see him?_

But before he could, Tsunade spoke again, with urgency. “I have to go back inside.” Seeing something in his expression, though what Kakashi didn’t know, she briefly touched his shoulder, a gesture so unlike her that it almost made him flinch. “It’s not over yet. I didn’t spend months putting him back together, just to let him die now.”

***

Time moved like molasses. Kakashi handled what he could from where he sat on that uncomfortable bench in front of the room that contained Gai and utter chaos. After a couple more minutes he could feel the chakra, Gai’s chakra and somehow not Gai’s chakra, like a negative of it, the shape was the same but the colors inverted, rolling through the thick, insulated walls of the hospital in pulsing, throbbing waves. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before and did make him think that the only reason Tsunade-sama could have compared it to Gai opening the eighth gate was that she had not in fact been there. The eighth gate, that chakra, one hundred percent Gai’s chakra, had been like a tornado ripping through his body, this was like a fire, blazing, smoldering, blazing again.

He summoned Wani with a quick hand sign and instructed him to alert Ibiki to get the interrogation room ready just in case. Then he sent the young man to the Northern gate to keep watch for the return of Yamato’s squad.

Kakashi still had a village to run, he knew that, he couldn’t stay at the hospital and do nothing. People at the residence could take care of most of the paperwork, but he had to return to the office regardless, if only to make preparations for the arrival of Yamato and Satonishiki.

***

Three hours later, there was finally word from the gate. Sai’s chōjū giga had been spotted on the horizon. Kakashi, who had been pacing up and down, waiting to hear this news, found himself clenching his fists, thinking of Satonishiki’s pale neck. For the last hours, he’d studied the file on Mugon-ji again and again, then searched the bingo book for an entry matching the monk and finally he’d sent an official request to the Mizukage herself, asking for any information on the former Kiri-nin.

Now he was here.

***

“What did you do to him?” Kakashi didn’t even wait for Satonishiki, shorter in person than he’d expected, older too, with deep wrinkles around his eyes and the corners of his mouth, to fully enter his office.

“He is our gift to you,” the man replied as he walked closer in his grey robe, Yamato and Sai to his right and left, the other two Anbu behind them.

“He keeps saying that, Senpai. And he came without a fight.”

Kakashi’s eyes darted over to Tenzō, whose hands were off the target just like Sai’s.

Satonishiki opened his arms, a welcoming gesture, as if he expected a hug. He stopped in front of the desk. Kakashi had risen from his chair and was staring him down.

“Undo it,” he said, calm and menacing.  

The old man shook his bald head. “I cannot. But you can. Your touch releases his chakra, makes it your own. It is our gift to you, a precious, powerful gift.”

This did not make sense. “What are you saying?”

Satonishiki turned to the Anbu. “Leave us,” he said, his voice grave and commanding. Without a word Yamato put his hand on his weapons’ pouch and caught Kakashi’s gaze.

Kakashi shook his head and said, “Wait outside, please.”

Completely unintimidated, Satonishiki continued while the Anbu filed out, “You sent this man to us for a reason. He is a cripple, of little use to his village. A broken tool. We couldn’t mend him, so we gave him a new purpose.”

The word cripple had lit a fire in Kakashi’s gut. No one would speak about Gai in this manner and get away with it. “You did this to my official envoy,” he said. “This is an attack. If he dies, I promise, you will die too. I will _obliterate_ your temple.”

If anything, Satonishiki’s smile widened.

“Hokage-sama, I told you, all you have to do is touch him and he will be fine, and the power stored within him will be yours. That is what you desire, isn’t it? _Power?_ He will be a source of that for you.”

The old man held Kakashi’s gaze. There was a fervor in his eyes, a deep conviction. Of what, Kakashi wondered. “I could sense it when he came to us, his desire to be useful to you. When I asked him about it, he told me that all he wanted was to serve you and the village. A true shinobi – in mind if no longer in body. He belongs to you. You can do what you want with him, use him or discard him.”

Kakashi almost recoiled in revulsion. At the old man, but also at himself. Had his traitorous heart not held a vague hope when he’d read about the healing services provided at Mugon-ji? “You—” His disbelief and hatred wouldn’t even let him form a proper sentence.

“You should hurry, Hokage-sama. Before it’s too late.” Satonishiki moved forward, reaching for Kakashi as if to put a consoling hand on his shoulder. Disgusted, Kakashi sidestepped the gesture, but it did nothing to deter the priest, who continued to speak, this time admonishing. “Listen, where your skin touches his, it will absorb his chakra, the power will flow through you and relieve him. I hear the experience is quite intense…”

“Why? What’s the point of this?” Kakashi shook his head, even as he asked. There was no time; they’d already wasted too much. Ibiki could deal with Satonishiki.

“I told you, it is a gift. A demonstration of how we can be of use to you…”

Ignoring the old man, Kakashi darted out of his office.

In the hallway, he ordered Yamato and his team to take Satonishiki to the Anbu headquarters for further interrogation, then he jutsu’d straight to the hospital.

***

Kakashi appeared in the same spot where Shizune had met him hours before. This time, he could feel the chakra blazing around him, its force permeating the whole building. There was no chaos, however, Tsunade’s staff were well-trained and moving with the calm efficiency he expected from his shinobi. 

He ran to the double glass doors leading to the ICU where a jōnin in his forties was standing guard. Kakashi gave him a curt nod, expecting him to step aside. He didn’t. “Hokage-sama, we have evacuated this ward, are you certain you want to proceed? Tsunade-sama ordered—”

Kakashi didn’t even bother to reply, he merely pushed the other man out of his way and moved on into the swirling chakra.  The ward was quiet, the air hot and humid. Although only a few hours had passed since he had last walked through the doors into the ICU, the atmosphere had changed completely. It felt as though he was descending into the burning guts of something giant and monstrous, a dying dragon.

When he pulled the door to Gai’s room open, a wave of humid heat hit him, the chakra reaching into his insides. Tsunade and Shizune both turned, startled by his sudden entrance. Their faces were luminous with sweat, damp hair plastered to their skin. Both were breathing heavily, the room like a sauna. Between them, Gai glowed.

Cracks were showing in his flushed skin, leaking vicious red chakra, the color bleeding through the steam rising from his naked body. Now he looked almost like he had back then, except his eyes were not the blank white slits of the beast but wide open, black pupils blown and glassy.

“We’ve got Satonishiki. He told me what to do.” Kakashi spoke without taking his eyes off Gai. Every breath made his body feel heavier. Finally, he raised his gaze to meet Tsunade’s. “You need to leave.”

“If you tell me—” Shizune began.

“No,” Kakashi cut her off, “he said it has to be me.”

“Sounds like a trap.” Tsunade’s suspicion was in no way surprising. He was thinking the same thing, but he didn’t have any other choice. Gai was burning up, right in front of them. They didn’t have the time to let Ibiki work on Satonishiki to find out the truth.

“We’ll see. If it is a trap, you’ll know what to do, Godaime-sama.” Naruto and Sakura were on a mission in Kumogakure with Tenten. Sasuke was still travelling and atoning, Lee was in Suna. When it came down to it, Kakashi could say that they had done their part, he and Gai. And with Tsunade, Shizune and Tenzō, Konoha would be taken care of.  “But you can’t be here right now,” he said firmly. His mind had been made up from the start.

Tsunade didn’t look happy, but she nodded. “Fine. We’ll be at the residence.”

“Kakashi-senpai…” As she walked past, Shizune briefly touched his shoulder. It wasn’t a goodbye exactly, though it might be if things came to that.

Kakashi waited until he couldn’t hear their footsteps in the hallway anymore. Then he waited a couple more minutes, watching Gai, whose chest was heaving, smoke coming off the gurney beneath him.

“It’s going to be okay,” he murmured, pointlessly; Gai didn’t look like he was aware of anything but the chakra burning through him. Kakashi breathed in the heavy air, acrid smoke filling his throat. Very slowly, he reached out, his hand hovering over Gai’s arm. Satonishiki’s words still echoed in his ears, in all their nonsensical glory. Kakashi had no faith in what the old man had told him because it had been crazy talk; he couldn’t see how the monk might benefit from what he’d claimed to have done, so why should he have done it?

An attack was more likely, and this being an elaborate ploy to assassinate Konoha’s Rokudaime Hokage made at least some kind of sense. Plus, Kakashi had to congratulate Satonishiki because it would work. He would do as he had been told because he saw no other way to help Gai and so, even if it was foolish and might kill them both, he had to try touching Gai since whatever happened to Gai would only be bearable if it happened to him too.

Once more he thought about their students, how they were set on their individual paths, good paths that would hopefully lead them into a bright future. Whatever happened next, Kakashi told himself, as he instinctively closed his eyes, the village and the people he loved would be okay.

“I’m sorry, Gai,” he said and grabbed Gai’s hand.

***

Kakashi had expected heat, he’d expected pain, burning himself, blisters erupting on his skin at the very least, if not a full explosion of chakra obliterating them both.

There was no pain. There was the opposite of it and the intensity of the chakra flowing into him through his fingers made his knees buckle. For a moment his mind went completely blank and there was nothing but a sensation of such pure pleasure that it was almost sexual in nature. Shocked, Kakashi let go of Gai’s hand.

He looked down, breathing heavily, at the bulge in his pants. Almost sexual? No, it was completely sexual. He swallowed against his heart pounding in his throat and tried not to think about his sudden arousal. The reaction was purely physical, he told himself, a side effect that had nothing to do with anything.

His whole body was thrumming, chakra swirling through him.  

Gai’s breathing was slowing; the movements of his chest seemed less rapid and painful now. Kakashi’s brief touch really had relieved him. But he was still nowhere near okay. The cracks in his skin, the scars left by the eighth gate, gave off a slightly dimmed glow. Beads of sweat were forming on Gai’s skin now; they no longer evaporated into steam. His temperature had gone down, though when Kakashi had touched him, Gai’s skin had not felt hot to him at all, just pleasantly warm.

Kakashi had to do it again.

This time, following a strange instinct, he took off his fingerless gloves first. Then, after taking a deep breath to brace himself, he put both hands, side by side, on Gai’s right forearm. The rush he felt was different from the one before. Slightly less intense, but it still made his toes curl, his breath catching in his throat. He closed his eyes and silently counted to thirty before letting go.

 _Where your skin touches his, the power will flow through you and relieve him._ Satonishiki’s words made a sick kind of sense now.

When Kakashi opened his eyes, he saw that Gai was breathing almost normally, his eyelids fluttering. The chakra’s glow was less strong; the cracks in his skin seemed to be closing. Kakashi’s body had indeed absorbed some of the chakra, only while it had harmed Gai, it was filling Kakashi with power instead. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this awake this alive.

Using two hands had made the impact less staggering, the chakra flow had been less concentrated. The more of his skin touched Gai, the easier and quicker the process would probably be. Kakashi swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth. This was wrong. Gai was barely conscious; he was helpless, dependent on Kakashi; he had no say in the matter at all.

Kakashi’s shameful arousal was a betrayal but he couldn’t help it.

Gai’s fever was still high; the chakra still running rampant in his body. If Kakashi really wanted to help his friend, he had to be quick. He couldn’t keep hesitating.

Determined to get through whatever they needed to get through, Kakashi stripped off his vest, sweatshirt and top. He dropped his hitai-ate on the pile of clothes on the floor and gently worked one arm under Gai’s shoulders. Instantly, chakra pulsed into him again, a wave of liquid heat rushing into his bloodstream. Kakashi bit his lip and lifted Gai into his arms.

Gai was heavy and limp, his head lolled into the space where Kakashi’s neck met his shoulder. Wherever their bare skin touched, power flowed into Kakashi, a rush so pure and intense, he sank to his knees with a groan. There was nothing he could do but arrange them on the tiled floor. Him sinking against the wall and Gai sagging into him, on top of him.  

Kakashi had to focus on sucking in air while Gai’s warm breath dampened his skin. His erection pressed uncomfortably into the seam of his pants and against Gai’s hip. Really all he could do was cling to his friend, his hands sliding across muscle slippery with sweat.

“Shit,” he mumbled, wondering how he’d gotten into this situation in the first place. It was absurd. Here he was, half-sitting, half-lying on the floor of Konoha’s ICU with his best friend naked on top of him, chakra pulsing through them both and Kakashi barely able to keep it in his pants.

All he could think about as aching pleasure thrummed through his body was taking off every stitch of clothing he still wore and pressing into Gai with everything he had. His mind held no plan for concrete acts, only the desire for friction, for discovery, for _more._

_More._

_More._

Kakashi clenched his fists, his knuckles pressing into Gai’s back as he willed his hips to remain still. It took all he had. Around them, the swirling chaos of chakra had subsided. It was all inside them now and Gai, Gai was coming to.

“Don’t,” Kakashi said into his friend’s ear when Gai shifted in his arms. He bit his lip and rode out the aftershocks of Gai’s thigh brushing his erection.

“Kakashi,” Gai groaned into his neck. He wasn’t glowing anymore, just naked and sweaty. His scars had returned to be just that, scars. Kakashi could feel his soft dick moving against the inside of his thigh. He tried not to think about it.

This was just mortifying.

There was still chakra flowing between them, but Gai was not in his feverish state anymore, he was pushing against Kakashi, trying to get to his feet.

Seeing no other option, Kakashi let go and Gai, still somewhat confused and unsteady, pushed himself off Kakashi, only to tumble backwards and land on his butt.

Breathing heavily, Kakashi avoided Gai’s eyes.

There was a moment of silence, in which Gai looked around, his eyebrows knitting in utter bewilderment at his surroundings. Then he turned to Kakashi – sitting shirtless on the floor, with no way to hide his erection – and his eyes nearly popped from their sockets. “Rival…what’s going on?”

“The monks did something to you. You almost died.” That was really all the explanation Kakashi had. He tried very hard not to blush under Gai’s stare, and failed.

“What—" Before Gai could finish his question, the sliding door was pulled open and two Anbu burst into the room. Kakashi used the momentary distraction to reach for his sweatshirt, neatly folding it over his crotch.

“Hokage-sama! Gai-san!” The female captain’s voice almost shook with relief, she put two fingers on her ear and spoke into the headset concealed beneath her monkey mask, “Godaime-sama, they’re alive!”

***

Five minutes later, Kakashi was back at the office, a transcript and a tape of Satonishiki’s first interrogation on his desk in front of him, Shizune pacing the room and shaking her head and Gai still back at the hospital with Tsunade.

“It’s going to happen again,” Shizune said, for the fifth time. “Senpai, it’s going to keep happening.”

“I know.” Kakashi was leafing through the transcript, skimming page after page, his jaw tightening with every word he read.

“How do you feel?”

She’d asked him before and so had Tsunade.

“Fine,” Kakashi said. It was not not true. He felt fine. And also incredibly awake and energetic and young. He felt powerful and sharper than he’d felt in years.

His nose was picking up all kinds of scents, the green tea on Shizune’s breath, the disinfectant on her hands, a lingering trace of Ibiki in the room – talcum powder and weapon oil, that herbal cream he used on his scars, his musty leather coat – the trees outside, and Gai, Gai’s sweat on him.

Mostly, though, Kakashi felt blue-balled and confused and angry and embarrassed and worried about what they would do when it happened next.

_There is no danger for the vessel as long as he is relieved of the chakra regularly. And the benefits for Hokage-sama are undeniable, strength, health, a longer life! I don’t understand why you fail to appreciate the precious gift we have given you!_

Kakashi pushed the papers away. He swallowed hard.

It would happen again.


	2. Chapter 2

“Wake up,” Kakashi said. Ibiki was standing in the open doorway of the cell, watching Kakashi with a serene look on his face as he shoved Satonishiki again. The old man was lying on his side, a blanket pulled up to his shoulders. He groaned when Kakashi poked him.

Finally, Satonishiki rolled onto his back and blinked. “Hokage-sama?” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and peered up at Kakashi. “You look refreshed.”

His tone, his expression, the smugness was exactly what Kakashi had expected, but it annoyed him regardless.

“Save it. Get up. I want to talk.” _I have nothing to hide, but I want to speak to Rokudaime-sama directly._ This reply and several variations of it had popped up all over the transcript of Satonishiki’s first interrogation, so here Kakashi was, ready to get his answers.

Although the old priest must have expected – and desired – Kakashi’s visit, he made a show of being surprised as he struggled into a sitting position. That too, Kakashi thought, the way Satonishiki moved, slowly and laboriously, his hands grasping for things to hold onto, might have been for show. Ibiki had used no violence on the old man; Kakashi had given him orders to hold back, to wait for word on Gai, and now that Gai was out of immediate danger, Kakashi found his own need to punish this man somewhat diminished. He was still pissed, though.

“Is this the famous hospitality of the Hidden Leaf I’ve heard so much about?” grumbled Satonishiki, his bleary gaze meeting Kakashi’s eyes. There was no fear in him, not even the pretense of it. If Kakashi had had any doubt that he was dealing with a shinobi, it would have been gone now.

He let out a derisive snort. “It must be quite the culture shock for someone from the Hidden Mist…”

The old man’s thin lips curled into a smile. Creeping across the papery and bloodless skin of his face, Kakashi sensed the faintest trace of a tiny genjutsu. He’d not noticed it before, and it made him think that Satonishiki _wanted_ him to notice it now. “Yes, shocking not to be gutted on sight,” drawled Satonishiki. Dispelling the genjutsu revealed sharp, jagged teeth and a greenish-blue tint to the old man’s skin. Not uncommon for a shinobi of the Mist, but not a good look for a priest. Acting like nothing had changed, Satonishiki went on conversationally, “When I was last there, it was still called the Bloody Mist, you know. A name well-earned. After every test, our classrooms had to be hosed down and still the blood stains would not come out of the floors. The smell in summer…”

“Tch.” Kakashi glanced over at Ibiki, who up until that point had been completely silent. Now their eyes met and Kakashi could see Ibiki’s memories of his previous encounters with Mist in the set of his jaw and the darkness of his expression. They were both old enough to know exactly what Satonishiki was talking about.

Still, the fact that Satonishiki was talking to them like this was in and of itself surprising. When they’d first met, he’d been all grandeur and indignation, now he was chatty, almost jovial.  “Your mood’s changed, huh?” Kakashi prodded.

The old man was sitting Lotus-style on his bedroll. He cocked his head, scratching his chin. “You’re not what I expected, Rokudaime-sama. I give you a gift and you take me prisoner.” There was some bitterness there, in that ridiculous complaint, and it was enough to make Kakashi’s anger flare up again.

“You almost killed my envoy,” he countered, more than a hint of threat in his voice.

A dismissive snort. “From the looks of you, I’d say he’s fine. Anyway, he seemed like the resilient type when I met him.”

“Is that why you picked him?”

“I already told you…” The old man interrupted himself with a sigh of exasperation. “If you had come to Mugon-ji, you could have picked your vessel yourself.” That confirmed Kakashi’s suspicion. The priest had been insulted by his decision to send Gai instead of making the journey himself, and yet he wasn’t gloating about having taken his revenge; he still insisted that he’d given Kakashi a gift.

“So it never even occurred to you that I might not want this at all. That thought never even crossed your mind?” Kakashi searched Satonishiki’s dark eyes for that spark of malice, of triumph, but if anything, the old man’s gaze held only a vague sadness as though he’d lost something so long ago he couldn’t even remember what it was.

“After your inauguration,” Satonishiki said after a beat, picking his words with slow deliberation, weighing them on his tongue, “you gave a speech. It was televised, broadcast in all the nations. Do you remember?”

Kakashi remembered a girl blasting him with hairspray and the lights blinding him. “Not exactly the kind of thing you forget,” he drawled, the sudden change of topic making him wary.

“You said you wanted stability. _Lasting_ peace between the nations. That what we had now was a flimsy bond, formed hastily out of the necessity to fight a common enemy. You wanted it to be the foundation for something real, _a true understanding for each other_ , you said. For the coming generations to grow up in a world without war.” Kakashi held the other’s gaze even as something inside of him squirmed in discomfort. It was strange to truly think about his words going out into the world, being heard by all those people, people he might never even meet, but who still had this image of him, these few minutes of his life forever trapped on film; they had flickered across a million retinas and maybe even touched a few hearts. At the time, he’d pushed those kinds of thoughts away; he’d thought about the speech as just another point on his to-do-list for that day, something to be checked off.  

“I was surprised at first,” Satonishiki continued, watching him, “there you were, the famous Son of the White Fang, Friend Killer Hatake Kakashi, talking about peace.”

Friend Killer Hatake Kakashi, the moniker still made Kakashi clench his fists, a stab of pain straight to the heart, _Rin_ , his knuckles pressing into the smooth fabric of his white coat.

The old man pretended not to notice as he went on speaking. “But then, when I really looked at your face, into your eyes, I started to believe you. To believe _in_ you. I thought, if anyone can do it, he can.”

 _Bullshit_ , Kakashi thought, though he couldn’t detect anything but sincerity in Satonishiki’s steady gaze. During the speech, he’d meant what he had said, every word – of course he’d meant it, however, he’d also never really seen himself as anything other than a stand-in. Hokage was a role he was willing to play until Naruto was ready to take up the mantle, then Kakashi would retire, read books, take naps in the shade, challenge Gai to eating contests and hopefully not kill anyone ever again.

To Satonishiki he said simply, “You’ve been out of touch up there in your temple. I’m not the one who got us here. That was Uzumaki Naruto’s doing.”

“Your student? He’s a child.”

“He’s already a greater man than I’ll ever be,” Kakashi said, the words passing his lips with the lightness of an undeniable truth.

Satonishiki shook his head. “Only those who have known war can truly appreciate peace.” That strange conviction Kakashi had sensed earlier had returned; there was a brightness in his eyes now that might have become tears had he not been a shinobi of Kirigakure. Kakashi had only ever seen one Mist nin cry. “Rivers of blood have run through your fingers, Hatake Kakashi, of foe and friend alike. You are not as naïve as the young Kazekage, not as set in your ways as the old Tsuchikage, not as impulsive as the Raikage and not as proud as the Mizukage, that’s why I decided to put my faith in you.”

A shiver ran down Kakashi’s spine, chakra prickled at his fingertips.

“You are key, Rokudaime-sama, to upholding peace. For it to last, you have to live.” Pointedly, Satonishiki looked down at Kakashi’s twitching fingers. “You can kill me if you want. It makes no difference to me.”

Kakashi’s gaze flicked over to Ibiki, who shrugged. He’d heard it all before. But Kakashi couldn’t keep the disbelief out of his voice. “You’re telling me that that’s what you want? Peace?”

“Yes. You know my record. I turned my back on Kirigakure, but I never cut the symbol of my village. Instead I cast off my hitai ate entirely. It’s buried beneath the rice fields surrounding Mugon-ji. For years I’ve used my strength only to plow the earth and my jutsu to water the crops.”

There was no evidence to the contrary that he could cite, so Kakashi decided to get to the point.

“Tell me how to undo what you did,” he said, calmly this time, their surroundings and Ibiki leaning in the doorway with his air of vague disinterest and the steel senbon in his pockets being threat enough.

“It can’t be undone,” Satonishiki answered. Kakashi had heard this reply before, he’d read it too, in the transcript he’d left on his desk in the office. Neither the written nor the spoken version made him particularly happy.

“Then how? How did you do it?”

“As I told your interrogator before, a long time ago, a group of my people encountered a monster. They fought it, at great cost, and when it died, they collected what was left of its body, as it was suffused with its chakra. This relic came into my possession. I soon discovered its power: ground up into fine dust it fertilized the fields, our harvests have been plentiful, as you may know, and the crops are said to have healing powers.” Satonishiki paused for breath. “However,” he continued, his shoulders slouching. With guilt? Kakashi wondered, “the chakra sealed into the remains seemed too precious to me to use it all on the fields.”

“It fed people; it made you rich.” The temple had prospered under Satonishiki. Before his arrival it had almost been in ruins, the few remaining monks old and tired, living off scraps. Now grateful farmers sent their sons up there to be raised into temple service.

Satonishiki looked weary. “It still feeds people; it will feed people for generations to come, but there was more it could do. I wasn’t the only one to think so. When the remains were first brought to my village, there were those who tried to access their power, to take the chakra for themselves. It killed them.” When Kakashi stiffened, the old man hurried to add, “And yet it didn’t harm the people who ate our crops; quite the contrary, they live long and healthy lives.”

“You needed something to act as a kind of conduit.”

“Yes.” No, there was no guilt in the way Satonishiki spoke, not even a hint of regret.

Disgusted with the old man’s nonchalance, Kakashi spat, “This could have killed Gai; it still might and you’re telling me you did that as a favor to me? You want me to be healthy? To live a long life? Why not send me a sack of your magic rice? Some broccoli, a couple of eggplants?”

“Tell me you don’t feel the difference, Hokage-sama.” The corner of Satonishiki’s mouth twitched. “Tell me losing the Sharingan hasn’t made you vulnerable.”

He could have plucked the other man off his bedroll and wrung his bony neck, but Kakashi had never been one to let his emotions dictate his behavior. His anger only made him that much calmer. “I didn’t ask for this,” he said, slowly, giving every word the weight it deserved, “I don’t need this, and I want it undone. You’ll tell Ibiki everything about what you did to Gai, how you did it, every step.”

“I have no reason to object to that. It won’t change anything. It can’t be undone.”

***

_It can’t be undone._

The sentence kept replaying in Kakashi’s mind as he stepped into the elevator with Ibiki. Satonishiki had sounded so sure, unshakable in his conviction that Gai’s condition was permanent, and satisfied, too, as though he had accomplished a great feat. It hadn’t been a smug sort of satisfaction either but one tinged with relief as if he was a farmer who had brought his livestock through a hard winter. 

“What’s your impression of him?” he asked Ibiki, who was jabbing his finger at the first floor button.

“He makes himself look older than he is. According to his files, he’s Godaime-sama’s age. That generation, they’re tough as nails.” The sannin generation, Kakashi thought grimly, those who were still alive had seen three of the four great wars. He had no doubt that torture would leave Satonishiki unimpressed.

“You noticed the genjutsu?”

Ibiki nodded. “Understandable. No one from the Land of Fire would hand their kid over to some fish-faced bastard from the Mist.”

Yes, even after fighting the last war together, after standing side by side as allies, people couldn’t quite let go of their bias. _Fish-faced bastard from the Mist_ summed up those feelings nicely.

“And what he said?”

“It’s the truth, I think. To him at least.” Ibiki shrugged as the elevator dinged. “Honestly, I don’t think he would tell me anything else even if I shoved glowing hot pokers up his ass.” The doors slid open and they stepped into the foyer of the Anbu headquarters. “I think he really believes that he’s doing this for the sake of the world.”

Kakashi nodded a vague greeting to the guards by the exit. They nodded back, the eyeholes of their masks inhuman black slits.

“It’s complete nonsense,” Kakashi said as he pushed through the doors into a sunny Konoha afternoon. A couple more steps, then Ibiki stopped in the shadow of one of the trees lining the street. A few meters from them, people were going about their business. No one approached Anbu’s Head of Interrogation, though, whether they were doing it consciously or not, everyone was keeping their distance from Ibiki and the square, inconspicuous building behind them.

“Is it?” Ibiki asked, tilting his head a little as he looked Kakashi up and down. “What do you think would happen if you were killed right now?”

The question made Kakashi smile under his mask. “With Tsunade and Naruto both around? Probably not much,” he replied without hesitation.

“Hmmm, I wonder.” Ibiki leaned his back against the trunk of the tree and gazed up into the leaves. If Asuma had been here now, he would have dug a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit up, Kakashi found himself thinking. Ibiki shot him a sideways glance. “You said it yourself, there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

“In the end it doesn’t matter who does it, though. It doesn’t necessarily have to be me.” And so far it hadn’t, not really. He’d fought in the wars, he’d given speeches, he wore the mantle, but he hadn’t been the one doing the heavy lifting.

A couple of genin chasing a white cat across the rooftops on the other side of the street caught his eye and he smiled to himself. In the end, Konoha hadn’t changed all that much.

 “I think it matters. Kakashi,” Ibiki said after a beat. The cat had hopped down into an alley out of sight and the kids were following, one after the other like raindrops sliding off a leaf. “You’re the hope of our generation.”

Kakashi snorted, startled. “… That kind of thing... is not what I want to hear from you, Ibiki,” he drawled, feeling heat rise to his cheeks.

“Heh, sorry.” Ibiki’s dry chuckle instantly revealed the insincerity of the apology. “What are your orders regarding Satonishiki?”

Grateful for the change of topic, Kakashi took a moment to consider his priorities. “I want to know more about that chakra. Where did it come from exactly? What was that monster they fought? A tailed beast?” He thought about Rin again, Kirigakure and the Sanbi, the old grudge he’d thought buried, if not with her, then at least with the boy, Haku, whose heart had been as fragile and warm as hers and had felt the same when his fingers had pierced it. He pushed these thoughts away, focusing on the problem at hand. The present. “And how he got it into Gai. How the link between us works. Report back to me as soon as you find out any new information.”

“Understood.”

With this, Kakashi had taken all the steps he could take here, which meant it was time to go back to the hospital and talk to Tsunade.

And Gai.

***

After Gai had come to, naked on the floor of the ICU, Kakashi had jerked away from him, put as much distance between them as he could and finally fled the building altogether. He’d run home to his apartment, taken an ice-cold shower, ignored the knocking on his door, then at his window.

At last he had emerged, his body still buzzing with energy, faced his concerned Anbu who told him he had to return to the hospital for a quick examination – he was fine, really – and some words with Tsunade and Shizune about what had happened, although at that point, he hadn’t even begun to process it himself. Then he had excused himself to go to the Anbu headquarters.

And now he was back at the hospital, his fist hovering millimeters from the door to Gai’s private room.

Kakashi sighed. He knocked.

There was some suspicious rustling, a thump, a grunt, then Gai’s voice, a little out of breath, “Come in!”

Gai’s room was bright, picturesque, the window open, curtains stirring in the breeze, framing a view of green trees, the blue sky and voluptuous white clouds. Gai was sitting up in his hospital bed. They had given him one of the thin hospital gowns for patients, which he was wearing, the papery fabric almost revealing more of his body than it was hiding.

 “Kakashi!” he called as soon as Kakashi stepped into the room. Gai’s fiery eyes fixed on him with such intensity that he stayed by the door instead of approaching the bed. “I owe you an apology, I have failed my mission! I’ve allowed myself to be deceived and—”

Kakashi interrupted the cascade of words; he had to. Guilt was still heavy in his stomach and Gai’s apology made it rise up like bile until he could taste it at the back of his throat. “No,” he said firmly, “it’s my fault. I was the one who sent you. I was naïve.”

Gai’s expression set like concrete. His hands pulled at his blanket, balling it up in his fists. “If the Hokage regrets putting his trust in me, then I truly have failed.” Dejection. Seeing it in Gai – a rare occurrence – always made Kakashi’s heart clench.

“That’s not—” He shook his head, regrouped, did not think about the heat of Gai’s skin, that malicious chakra burning him up from the inside, the same chakra that still made him feel refreshed, strong, sharp. That he could taste on the tip of his tongue. “Look, Gai, maybe we’ve both let ourselves be tricked, but I’m the one who’s responsible. I misjudged the situation and put you in danger.” _I’m the Hokage,_ that was what he was saying, and as Gai was hearing it, his gaze briefly slid off Kakashi and down to his right leg, the large bulge of his foot tenting the blanket. They’d renewed the cast.

“Tsunade-sama told me my chakra was corrupted. I don’t even know how. I have no memory of anything suspicious happening.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like we’ve really found out anything about that yet. And for what it’s worth your Anbu guards didn’t have any answers either. As for Satonishiki, he’s in custody; Ibiki’s with him right now.” This didn’t seem to cheer Gai up. Kakashi leaned his back against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. It was time to address the elephant in the room. “What do you remember about this morning?” he asked, fully aware of every centimeter of distance between them and the way he was brimming with restless energy, like his every cell was itching to divide, like his body was trying to expand, just to be closer to Gai’s skin.

All of this seemed to be lost on Gai. “Not much,” he said, the shame of not having anything useful to offer in his unusually subdued voice. “I was training; I started to feel hot. It kept getting hotter, then I must have blacked out.” A pause which Kakashi’s treacherous mind filled with vivid recollections of all that had happened after. Gai continued, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, “The next thing I know is that I’m naked on the floor and you’re there.”

“Did Tsunade-sama tell you…?” Kakashi trailed off, wondering how to even put it into words. He had no idea what Tsunade might have told Gai.

Gai however nodded, eyes hard and determined. “You absorbed the chakra. Which means they were trying to get it into you in the first place. Which means they are using me to harm you! Which is unforgiveable!”

He didn’t like this, the way Gai flared up, so quick to defend him when Gai was the one who’d almost died. “Tsunade-sama and Shizune have run a couple of tests and so far it doesn’t look like I’m in danger,” he said. “I’m fine, really.”

“But—”

“We need more information.” There was nothing Kakashi could do but shrug; he was stating the obvious, which was usually Gai’s job. More importantly… “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good, Rival. They’re just keeping me for observation.”

Gai did look good, Kakashi thought. His skin had a light sheen to it because he had obviously been working out when Kakashi’d knocked, probably ignoring doctor’s orders, his eyes were bright and alert, not glazed and feverish. Gai was okay. For now.

“Well, then—” He swallowed the rest of the sentence when a small ripple of chakra erupted from the center of the room. One of Kakashi’s Anbu appeared between them, facing Kakashi, head bowed respectfully.

“Hokage-sama, I have a message from Commander Ibiki. He would like to speak to you at the Anbu Headquarters as soon as possible.”

“Understood. Thank you,” Kakashi replied.

The Anbu briefly turned to look over his shoulder, “Gai-san, get well soon!” he said, and promptly disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

“Sorry, I have to…” Although he wouldn’t be using it, Kakashi awkwardly jerked his head toward the door.

“I know, Rokudaime-sama.” There was a smile on Gai’s lips, a gentle one. Miles away from his usual wide grin, a fond smile, Kakashi thought, a proud smile. He felt his face flush under the mask and ducked his head as his fingers flicked through the signs for the teleportation jutsu.

Ibiki’s words flashed through his mind again and as his chakra whisked him away, in that dizzying split second, in that last glimpse of Gai’s smile, he found his lips almost forming the words, unheard and unseen, at the man who truly deserved them.

***

“You need to read this.” Morino Ibiki was neither an emotional nor a very expressive man, so the deep crease between his eyebrows and the urgency in his voice were enough to make Kakashi’s pulse quicken. He snatched the piece of paper out of Ibiki’s hands and started skimming line after line. He blinked and reread, his tightening grip creasing the paper.

Finally, Kakashi tore his gaze off the writing and met Ibiki’s eyes. He could see his own feelings mirrored in their dark depths.

“That fucking bastard,” Kakashi said.

***

_So this fight with that monster you talked about, when was that exactly?_

This time Kakashi strode into the cell without a word. Satonishiki was sitting on a zabuton on the floor. As soon as he saw Kakashi, he froze, a paper cup filled with tea halfway to his lips. Kakashi made a beeline for him. Without stopping, he unceremoniously kicked the low table in front of the old man aside, sending it crashing into the wall.

_During the Third War. I’d say roughly twenty years ago._

Satonishiki didn’t flinch. He didn’t move.

_We’re talking about a big incident here? You said a group of your people fought at great cost…_

He didn’t resist when Kakashi pulled him up by the front of his robe and slammed him against the wall as well. Tea splashed onto Kakashi’s vest, his sleeves and gloves. Kakashi ignored the warm liquid dripping down to his feet.

_Everyone in the Hidden Mist knows about it, even today…_

“If you had come to Mugon-ji, you could have picked your vessel yourself, that’s what you said to me. As if it was a coincidence. As if it could have been anyone,” he said, his face centimeters from Satonishiki’s. Although he was almost nauseous with rage, Kakashi was still maddeningly in control of himself. He wanted to see the other man’s reaction to the imminent threat of violence. Would he drop the façade and try to fight if he really thought his life was in danger?

_…It was the Seven, and they were decimated._

“It was. It could have been,” Satonishiki ground out. He made no move to defend himself. His eyes were wide, but not pleading. “Though I did think it was fate when you sent Maito Gai of all people…”

_The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist? During the Third War?! So this monster you’ve been talking about, the one whose remains you ground up to fertilize your fucking fields…_

“Fate, huh? That’s what you thought?” Kakashi tightened his grip just enough to make the old man feel it. “All this talk about fighting a monster…” he snarled, thinking about a man inviting his father into his house when no one else would even look at Sakumo.

Satonishiki held his eyes, his gaze empty of fear, of apology.  “When you gave your speech, what I thought you understood was that that’s what war makes of us all, Rokudaime-sama,“ he said. “Monsters.”

_He was a monster to us. But I guess to you he was just Maito Dai._

 

**Author's Note:**

> I might continue this.


End file.
